Hogwarts: From Little Wizard to White Lord

Snape said impatiently: "Of course not, no one wants him to come back..."

"No, you are different, Severus." Dumbledore interrupted his defense with a calm expression: "I noticed that you have always kept the Dark Mark. You have never given up your admiration and recognition of Tom, but you don't want him to be resurrected... because you know that Tom will definitely hurt Harry!"

In the corner, Snape subconsciously took a step back, hiding his arms and face out of the candlelight.

As if this would allow him to continue keeping his secret.

There was an unspeakable silence in the air.

After a long while, Snape's indifferent voice, as subtle as the wriggling of a venomous snake, could be heard from the darkness: "I don't have time to play boring emotional counseling games with you. If you have nothing else to do, please allow me to take my leave. My time is precious!"

Dumbledore's eyes, as blue as the sky, high and indifferent, stared at Snape for a moment, and suddenly a smile appeared in his eyes.

The originally heavy atmosphere suddenly became relaxed.

He laughed heartily. "It was just a joke, dear Severus, why take it so seriously? Well, let's get back to the subject."

"Of course I know how cunning Tom is, so I will use a legitimate excuse to disappear from Hogwarts for a while."

"What reason?"

"Some time ago, the International Confederation of Wizards forwarded an invitation to Vaughn to visit North America for an academic visit. They also wanted to discuss the proposal to establish a North American branch of the Werewolf Affairs Committee. Vaughn and I have temporarily put this matter aside."

Dumbledore blinked as he spoke. "However, this is an important international invitation after all. We can't just keep ignoring it. Mr. Vaughan Weasley plans to formally notify the North American side through official channels in due course. It would be perfectly reasonable for me, the headmaster, to attend as his companion."

Snape's face twitched. The old man always found ways to cheat people.

But if you think about it carefully, this reason is indeed reasonable.

It was rare for Hogwarts to produce an internationally renowned student, so the headmaster had to accompany him throughout the entire process, and the official note received no shortage of media exposure.

In this way, you can keep track of Dumbledore's movements just by reading the newspaper every day.

No matter how cautious the mysterious person is, he will most likely put aside his suspicions.

But he still couldn't help but question: "So, how are you and Vaughn going to get back..."

As soon as he said that, Snape felt a pair of burning eyes staring at him. He followed his gaze and saw an ugly bird that looked like a chicken, staring at him with its small eyes next to the huge desk that belonged to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled and said, "You should know your former master, Severus. He was a genius, but it was precisely because of his genius that he was so arrogant. Apart from himself and me, he looked down on everyone else, let alone magical creatures."

"Tom would never have guessed that the Hogwarts Anti-Apparition Charm was ineffective against the magic of magical creatures."

Snape was silent again.

Based on his understanding of the mysterious man, the mysterious man was not just unable to think of it.

Even if such a thing is discovered, the other party will not use the magic of magical animals.

Tom Riddle's pride in his bloodline and wizardry is a kind of paranoia that is difficult for ordinary people to understand. In a sense, he can be called the person in the world who is most obsessed with the purity of wizards.

In his opinion, only wizards are worthy of possessing magic, and anything else is evil.

After a moment of silence, Snape nodded and asked the same question as Vaughn had asked not long ago: "I understand. When is the specific date for the plan?"

"Two weeks from now is a more suitable time. By then, the installation will be complete, and students and professors will have entered the busiest period at the end of the semester. Everyone is like a wound-up spring. Most importantly, after Harry completes the challenge, he will have plenty of time to enjoy the fun of learning... Severus, you must have prepared a sumptuous after-school meal for him!"

At this moment, Snape, who had always had a stern face, finally smiled.

Just when he couldn't bear it any longer and wanted to share with Dumbledore his arrangements for Harry's studies, he saw Dumbledore suddenly raise his head.

Those blue eyes shone brightly.

It was as if he could see through the heavy door and magical protection of the office and look straight into some unknown place.

"Dumbledore?"

"Ah..." Dumbledore came back to his senses, and the light in his eyes dimmed. "What did you say, Severus?"

Snape asked in confusion: "What did you just see?"

Dumbledore didn't answer for a moment. After a moment's thought, he replied in an elusive tone, "Light... the light produced by the collision of two completely different civilizations is very weak, but it seems to contain certain possibilities..."

Snape: "...Speak human language!"

Dumbledore regained his composure and smiled, "I'm sorry, Severus, but that was the most human way I could think of."

In the process of solving the problem of magical interference with electricity, the twins gained a deep understanding of electricity, an energy source that runs through the history of modern Muggle technology.

And the technology that Muggles have developed over hundreds of years, based on electricity.

This greatly broadened their horizons.

The perspective on Muggle items is no longer superficial, but people begin to try to put aside their wizarding thinking and understand more deeply from the perspective of Muggles what principles a Muggle technology product uses, what functions it achieves, and why it develops.

The feeling of first contact with an unfamiliar field was so fascinating that the twins even gave up their beloved magic trick shop and were now obsessed with electricity and mechanics.

This was originally Vaughan's purpose.

He had always understood that beneath Fred and George's mischievous appearance, it was not because they were playful, but because of their strong curiosity and thirst for knowledge.

It's just that in the past, the two of them did not receive good guidance - in terms of how to behave and educate people and morality, Arthur and Molly are undoubtedly successful parents.

But they are not very qualified in guiding children's studies, or, with more and more children, their attention is inevitably distracted.

The older ones, Bill, Charlie and Percy, were okay, but since the twins, they had been left to their own devices. Ron was simply a poor student.

If you want to change the future destiny of Fred and George, you can't let them continue along the old path. Vaughn has no prejudice against making prank props. If it were a peacetime, it would also be a skill that could allow people to survive.

The problem is, the future is not peaceful.

Vaughn, who has experienced two lifetimes, knows very well that teenagers are at their most rebellious, and forceful interference and change will often only have the opposite effect.

That's why he deliberately concealed the news that the school was going to crack down on truancy, and watched the twins fall into a deep pit and were heavily in debt. Then, he guided them step by step to use their curiosity and thirst for knowledge in the places he had planned!

Like this moment.

"Vaughn, what do you think about George and I starting a Weasleys' Electric Company?"

"Producing electricity?"

"Magic Electricity!" Fred emphasized seriously, clearly and concisely highlighting the selling point. "Of course, the current products may only include wires, lights, and other things that are easy to modify."

Vaughn remained noncommittal, saying, "So, how are you going to price it? I just noticed that you used about four ounces of mithril dust to modify a 30-inch section of wire. If I remember correctly, the current price is 4 gold galleons per ounce."

a bolt from the blue!

The twins were stunned.

Vaughn didn't reject it outright, but simply shook his head. "If you really want to start an electric power company, then you need to continue improving your technology, reducing the amount of mithril powder used, or finding a cheaper alternative. Otherwise, one inch of wire will cost nearly three gold galleons, and no wizard can afford such wire!"

With just one sentence, the twins were devastated and turned gray, which made Hermione feel a little sorry for them.

Noticing she wanted to speak, Vaughn shook his head slightly at her.

Hermione had to hold back her anger as Vaughan continued to "attack" the twins. "But I'm quite pessimistic about whether a substitute can be found. I'm sure you've all tested the materials I provided. If there were a solution, you wouldn't have thought of using mithril. After all, even if you didn't know the price, you should know that it's a very precious magical metal."

Hearing this, Fred was dejected. "Yes... We originally wanted to try to reduce the effects of magic, but later found that it wasn't ideal. We accidentally tested mithril and came up with this idea."

George's focus, however, was on something else entirely. He stared blankly at the generators and wires, which were largely covered in mithril-mercury rubber. His voice trembled, "One ounce of mithril powder costs 1 gold galleons... Vaughn, what's the total price of the experimental materials you provided us?"

Vaughn Tycoon Weasley said calmly, "It's 2000 Galleons in total. If I just sell potions, it will probably take me several months to get that much."

As he spoke, he changed the subject, "Of course, that was the price of my potions before. Ever since I developed the Wolfsbane Potion and received the Order of Merlin, my partner pharmacies have taken the opportunity to raise the price of my products. Now it only takes a little over a month."

"Uh!!!"

George clutched his chest, breathing hard.

Fred, who was standing beside him, looked ashen. "...So, we've burned through over 1000 of your Galleons during this time?"

"To be precise, you have burned everything that has been provided to you!"

"Then...let me ask, is this money provided to us for free, or is it a loan or an investment?"

Vaughn smiled and asked, "What do you think?"

How else can you feel?

Fred wanted to shamelessly ask for free, but knowing his brother, the other party could only consider it an investment at best. Free? Don't dream!

The twins looked at each other, wanting to cry but unable to.

They knew that Vaughn's money was not easy to get. If 2000 gold galleons were considered a loan, they might not be able to pay it back in their lifetime given the current trend.

If it is considered an investment... that would be even more terrifying. By then, will Weasley Electric Company be named Weasley or... Huh?

So their last name is Weasley, that’s all right!

The optimistic twins became cheerful again.

They came up to Vaughan with flattering smiles, pinching his shoulders and feet:

"Dear brother, we know you won't drive me to death. Wires are expensive and can't be sold, but you'll definitely find a way to make them useful."

"That's right, everyone knows that our dear Vaughn is the smartest of the Weasley family. Fred and George are just baboons who haven't seen a tiger!"

"Yes, yes. Percy is even worse. He's not even worthy of carrying your shoes!"

Enjoying the twins' hospitality, Vaughan automatically ignored their flattery and their "villainous" behavior of criticizing Percy. After hanging around for a while, he took out a few things from his bag.

"Your technology is expensive and can't be used on wires, mainly because of the large amount of wires used. But if it is used on electronic products, it can significantly reduce secondary costs!"

Fred and George, who were massaging each other's shoulders and feet, looked at the machine Vaughn took out with curiosity on their faces. "What is this?"

Before Vaughan could answer, Hermione recognized it: "V8 tape camera? Home projector?"

Seeing that the twins were confused, Hermione quickly explained the functions she knew to them.

After hearing the concept of video, the twins looked puzzled. "Isn't it just a moving painting? What's so special about it? We've all learned how to mix developing chemicals. We can take any photograph and make it move."

"It's different!" Hermione said seriously, "Photos in the wizarding world can only be animated for a few seconds, but these Muggle electronic products..."

She turned on the V8 camera, took out the tape, and pointed to the small box. "A tape like this can store 60 minutes of footage. Just a dozen or so can record your entire day's life and experiences. Then, using the projector next to it, you can broadcast it to 10 or 100 people, and you can even make copies..."

The twins gradually understood that this was the stuff used in Muggle movies!

But they still couldn't imagine how such a thing could sell. Who would want to see what a stranger did in a day? Was it to trick everyone into learning how to make a Muggle movie?

Until Vaughn pointed out, "You can start with a small goal and try to get everyone to agree. For example, a week later, it will be the last Quidditch match of this semester. This crucial moment will determine who will win the championship between Gryffindor and Slytherin this year. Not only are the students concerned, but many parents and even graduating seniors are also concerned."

"But they're unlikely to come back specifically to watch. If you can fix the machine and film it... then you can make copies of the tapes and projectors, are you worried about not being able to sell them? With this demonstration, why worry about no one trying it?"

Ding!

The twins' eyes lit up instantly as the words woke them up from their dreams!

.....................